This week, a woman from Louisiana was given an 8-year prison term for causing the fentanyl overdose death of her young son, prompting disappointment from her relatives who felt the sentence should have been longer.
Summer Buxton admitted to the charge of manslaughter in connection to the passing of 2-year-old Keynan Jay Buxton in May 2023, as per a report by KPLC. The child succumbed to severe drug poisoning, as traces of methamphetamine and fentanyl were discovered in his body.
Prior to this, the boy’s father, Adrian Higgins, confessed to the same charge and was handed a 10-year prison sentence back in December. Despite this, Buxton’s family, which includes her mother, Tammie Abshire, had hoped for a more severe punishment.
“We went to court fully expecting for Summer to sentenced to plead guilty to manslaughter and to be sentenced to 20 years,” said Abshire.
Family members delivered victim impact statements in court, all asking for the maximum sentence.
Buxton’s sister, Kayla Lyons, told the court that Buxton was posting provocative photos to her OnlyFans account just days after her son’s death and skipped the child’s funeral in her statement, which she posted to Facebook.
Meanwhile, Buxton’s attorneys, Todd and Micah Clemons, told Law&Crime their client shouldn’t even have been charged with manslaughter because the toddler’s death was just “a horrific accident.” Instead, they said, they were happy for their client to plead guilty with the prosecution’s offer of an 8 year term.
Summer is truly remorseful,” the lawyers said. “She regrets any decision that she may have made that contributed to the death of her infant child.”
According to Lyons, however, the judge saw no remorse but stuck to the plea deal anyway.
